How quick – but exciting – this season’s Currie Cup Premier Division has been. Let’s see if we can call the results in the penultimate round of action.

Blue Bulls v Western Province

The first game of the weekend, on Friday night, is also the hardest one to call. The Bulls were actually pretty good in the rain at Kings Park last week and came within a whisker of a major upset against the Sharks, whereas Province managed to plumb new depths of woeful in losing to the Lions at home. That said, the last time these sides met, in Cape Town, it was Province who dished out a proper hammering, winning 42-6. This one could go either way and Loftus certainly isn’t the fortress it once was for the Bulls, at least not in the Currie Cup. That said, I think the team in blue has a bit more momentum, so I’m calling a Bulls victory, by about 7 points.

One fancies that if the Lions were going to slip up and lose an away game in the run-up to the play-offs, then it would have been last week’s clash against Western Province. Even without Jaco Taute or Elton Jantjies, they managed to successfully get through that hurdle and I’m afraid I simply can’t see Griquas offering anything more than token resistance this week, their first-round victory at Coca Cola Park notwithstanding. This is a Lions team playing with purpose – and for pride – and they’ll want to host a second successive final to prove to the powers that be that they deserve their place in the upper echelons of the local game. Lions to win by around 10 points.

The Sharks need to win on Bloemfontein to keep maximum pressure on the Lions in the hope of capitalising should the latter slip up in the next two weeks. That makes Saturday’s late game, in Bloemfontein, a must-win for the visitors and looking at the respective team sheets, you’d have to argue that the Sharks hold all the aces, on paper at least. Talk of “bogey sides” should have been put to rest over the last few seasons with the Sharks winning far more than they’ve lost against the Cheetahs in recent years. That said, last season’s stunning 52-23 reversal in Bloemfontein will ensure no complacency on the part of the men in black and white. The Sharks should take this one, by around 5 points.

@robdylan (Comment 15) : 6 now, and I believe that is indeed irony if you compare it to the other comments around the site

Comment 18, posted at 05.10.12 09:37:09 by Die Kriek

Although I would like my Lions to wi tomorrow, I would like to give griquas some points… I want one of the Bulls or Cheetahs to play a Promo/ rel game against the Kings… To give them a bitch-slap and show those guys what top-tier rugby is all about before the real fun starts! Griquas will beaty the Kings but I want one of the “big” unions to give them a big ‘klap” after they (the supporters” reckoned that they would rather face some ‘stiff’ competition than face the bulls in a play-off!!! They have no respect for the game, if they speak about the bulls (not my favourite union at all but still) in that condescending way!!! Who the hell do they think they are? Maybe it should be griquas… So they can come down to earth with a bang?